Fleet-footed Mackie has plundered eight goals in seven League games since leaving Plymouth in the summer.

On Tuesday he found the net twice at Ipswich and Leicester couldn’t cope with him on their home turf.

Warnock’s team already boast a ­five-point cushion at the top of the Championship ­table and look a good bet to go straight up.

And if they do, it will be great news for Plymouth, who will see Mackie’s transfer fee rise up to £500,000.

Either way it’s a bargain and Warnock is convinced Mackie will continue tormenting defences.

Warnock said: “Jamie knows the targets we have set him are ridiculous, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got them.

“I’m not going to say what they are, but he’s capable of hitting them.”

Mackie headed a decent chance over before nodding his side into a ­12th-minute lead.

Midfield anchor Shaun Derry hit a crossfield pass out to Adel Taarabt on the right, leaving the Moroccan­ ­magician to find an unmarked Mackie, who beat keeper Carl Ikeme from 10 yards.

Back in April, Warnock saw his side thrashed 4-0 at the Walkers Stadium. Leicester were on their way to the play-offs and Rangers were worried about the drop. Now the roles are in complete reverse.

It was all the more galling for new Foxes boss Paulo Sousa, who had tasted his first Championship victory on Tuesday – a 2-1 win over Cardiff.

Sousa was one of the many managers hired and fired by Rangers when ­co-owner Flavio Briatore was far too hands-on at Loftus Road.

He wasn’t given much of a chance, but the former ­Juventus star – who ­arrived in Leicester after flirting with the play-offs at Swansea – won’t last long here either if the Foxes continue to struggle.

And Leicester strung together some ­flowing passing moves. But in all ­honesty, Hoops keeper Paddy Kenny had little to do before the break.

Battering-ram Howard replaced skipper Matt Oakley in the 63rd minute, with Paul Gallagher already having replaced an ineffective Lloyd Dyer. Almost immediately, Andy King forced Kenny into a diving save, ­before Howard took a bloody blow to the mouth from Clint Hill in the box, but referee Graham Scott waved away frantic penalty pleas.

Furious

The official also turned down other spot-kick appeals, much to the home fans’ vented fury, and let Rangers keeper Kenny pick up a back-pass.

Mackie wrapped up another Hoops victory with an individual strike in the 86th minute, beating Michael Morrison in the box and slotting under Ikeme.

The fourth official then signalled for seven minutes of stoppage time – but that was no use to Leicester by then.Sousa let the officials have both ­barrels after the game for failing to spot the Hill elbow.

He said: “I fight all the time for ­honesty and when the referee was asked if he saw certain things, he said ‘no’.

“Everybody can make mistakes, but honesty is something you either have or not. QPR don’t need to be helped.”